


What It's Like Out There Where They Glow

by probsnothawkeye



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Elias Bouchard Being a Bastard, Elias does a lot of gaslighting, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff, HE IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST, Hand Wavy Magic Bullshit, Happy Ending, M/M, No beta we kayak like Tim, also gaslighting, because of all that emotional manipulation/abuse, fluff and a bit of angst, that's right friends it's a tangled AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27248407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probsnothawkeye/pseuds/probsnothawkeye
Summary: "As the lanterns graced the sky, a little boy in a tower in the woods watched in awe. He had not seen them before. He needed to Know what they were."OrTMA Tangled AU
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 24
Kudos: 126





	1. Prologue - The Stolen Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello!  
> Welcome to the longest work I have ever written in my entire life.  
> I got the idea to do a Tangled AU because I've been reading so many Beauty and the Beast AUs across several fandoms (I love them all so much) and wanted to try my hand at something fairytale theme. Tangled is my favorite, so now there's this!  
> I hope you guys enjoy!

The story starts, as all good ones do, in a world touched by unbelievable magic.

This magic, spread across fourteen different entities, was not profoundly good, mind you. In fact, more often than not, it was bad. Full of fear and pain and misery. This suited the needs of one Jonah Magnus, who found a way to manipulate one of the entities known as Beholding to his whims. Eternal life and knowledge was within his grasp, so long as things remained balanced as they were.

This was easy enough until the kingdom grew.

What was once a small, sparsely populated village grew into a kingdom seemingly overnight to Jonah. The increased presence of people gave him more knowledge to feed his god, but also had the potential to throw the balance into question. He was searching for a way to stop it when the first signs of trouble started.

The expectant queen had fallen ill.

In a world where one power falls to manipulation and a lack of free will, one could expect that these things could not be changed. That things would happen just because that is how they were fated to occur. But the king knew of a woman, known to the world only as The Mother of Puppets, who could supposedly manipulate the fates. He begged her to change his wife’s fate, to save his wife and child. Jonah assumed she would turn the king away, it wasn’t in the Mother of Puppets nature to play nice. 

But she surprised Jonah yet again, saving the queen, changing the balance of power.

Now people were sure of the power’s existence, trying their best to learn how to harvest it for themselves. Most were failing, but it was enough of an issue that Jonah needed to find a new way at preventing a further shift and solidifying his knowledge and immortality.

The solution came when the crown prince was born. 

As the king and queen held their baby out for the kingdom to see, sending lanterns high into the sky to commemorate his birth, Jonah felt it. Not only was the boy full of power and potential, the baby was marked by the Mother of Puppets. A blank slate that would grow into The Web, unless other powers were able to get their hands on this little boy. Jonah was determined to make sure  _ all _ the other powers got their hands on this little boy.

The solution was simple enough, with a bit of help from Beholding. Jonah could transfer his eyes into the body of the boy’s tutor, Elias Bouchard, and take over the body, giving him prime access to marking the boy for the entities. Children are so easy to scare, after all, and fear was a powerful marker for the entities. It had taken five years, but he was finally ready. All Elias had left was The Lonely, and he knew exactly what to do for that.

*** 

Soldiers raced through the halls of the castle, searching everywhere for the prince. The king’s head guard, Gertrude, was tasked with delivering the news to the king and queen. She stormed up to their door, hesitating only a moment before knocking. “Your majesties, there’s been a break in.”

The king and queen raced to the door. “Is everyone alright?”

Gertrude Robinson had been on the Royal Guard for decades now. She had seen war and peace and everything in between. She was not the type to hesitate, but in this moment she was. “Your majesties… Jonathan is gone.”

***

Out in the woods, miles from the castle, stood a tall tower. There were no apparent doors on it, only a window leading to an incredible drop. Up in the tower stood a man and a small child, a striking streak of silver in his unruly black hair. Elias Bouchard set Jon down on a small bed he had made up for the boy. “There, you’re safe now.”

“When can I go back home?” Jon asked, looking up at his tutor with tears still in his eyes. He was confused and frightened, one moment sleeping soundly in his bed and the next being woken by his tutor and rushed out of the castle. “When will mum and dad get here?”

Elias simply shushed the boy, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t worry, my little Archivist. It’ll all be over soon,” He reached into a drawer beside the bed, pulling out a small mirror. “I want you to look at yourself and repeat after me, okay Jon? You can do that for me, right?” Jon nodded, eyes staying fixed on the mirror. Elias smiled, stroking his hair again. “Ceaseless Watcher, turn your gaze upon this wretched thing. His memories of joy belong to you. His future fears belong to you. He will See and he will Know, but he will not remember what came before. This is my offering to you.”

As Jon repeated after his mentor, he started to feel a bit fuzzy. Memories were leaving his mind, flying out and leaving nothing but Elias and the entities in their place. As the last memory of his parents left Jon’s mind, the Lonely creeped in, finally marking the boy with the last of the entities. Elias caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window, looking younger than he had in the past five years. Another small strand of silver joins the hair on Jon’s head, matching the line that had originally marked him by the Mother of Puppets. Elias smiled.

His work was done.

***

Every guard in the kingdom searched for weeks. 

The king himself rode off with a few of his most trusted soldiers into the woods, looking for his son to no avail. A body of a man they thought to be Elias Bouchard was found mangled and unrecognizable in the study where the tutor worked. There was no hope for finding Jon now.

As the prince’s birthday approached, the king and queen set about crafting lanterns for the boy. They used to do it as a family, Jon laughing and smiling as he decorated the outsides of the lanterns. It felt wrong to do it without him, but perhaps seeing them would bring him home.

As the lanterns graced the sky, a little boy in a tower in the woods watched in awe. He had not seen them before. He needed to Know what they were.


	2. Fifteen Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon sits in his tower, consuming knowledge and longing for escape

Jon was looking over a few stories on the entities that Elias had left for him, hoping to find one worth reading aloud in offering to The Eye. As he was searching through the pile, he felt something watching him.

“What is it now, Gerry?” he asked tiredly, looking up from the endless pile of paper. It took him a moment, but finally he spotted a little hint of green sticking out from behind the curtain. Jon got up, slowly ambling around the room before ripping back the curtain, startling his companion. “Gotcha!” 

Gerry was a small, floating symbol of an eye that followed Jon around. Jon assumed it had something to do with his strong ties to Beholding, although he thought it best not to question it. Gerry first appeared shortly after Jon’s sixth birthday, following the young boy around. He was the closest thing to a friend Jon had.

Jon gave the little eye a small pat. “What has got you so playful this morning, Gerry?” The eye blinked at him in a manner that Jon could only assume was excitement before rushing towards the window. “Elias isn’t back for hours, I told you. No need to fear.” Gerry blinked again, gesturing with his whole body to the window, as if telling Jon to climb out. “You know I can’t do that, Gerry. It’s not safe out there.”

Gerry rolled his eye as Jon turned back to the pile of stories. Jon felt Gerry tap at his side a few more times. “I’m not going out there, Gerry. It just isn’t meant for me.”

And it wasn’t. Jon knew that. It had been drilled into his head again and again since he was a little boy.  _ “It’s not safe out there, my little Archivist,” Elias said as he brushed Jon’s hair. It was getting quite long at this point.  _

_ “Not even just on the grass below the tower? I promise I won’t go far, no one will see me!” Jon pleaded, looking out the window to the wide open world.  _

_ Elias’s hand stopped moving, fingers twitching on the brush. “It’s not about being seen, Jon. You are incredibly powerful and have yet to learn how to control yourself. Think of the danger you would pose if someone stumbled across this tower.” _

_ “But I don’t feel dangerous,” Jon said softly, looking at his hands as if he expected them to do something. And they did, they caught fire. “Oh!” _

_ Elias covered his with a thick blanket, snuffing out the flames. “You see what I mean, Jon? Until you can control yourself, you’re much safer up here.” _

Jon shook the memory from his head, his hand coming to rest on top of a story that perked both Gerry and Jon’s eyes up. It felt like something The Eye would like. “See, there we go. We don’t need to go outside. We have all the information we could ever need right within these walls.”

But he didn’t, not really. Jon could Know almost everything, but there were still blindspots in his knowledge. The lanterns, for example. Every year on his birthday, he saw lanterns filling the night sky coming from the kingdom. Years of trying to learn what those lanterns meant and come up with nothing. Jon stared out the window, thinking of all the things he could learn if he just stepped out there.

Gerry came up beside him again, gesturing for him to take the leap and leave. “It’s not safe, Gerry. But maybe one day…”

Jon moved away from the window once more, taking the story that had called out to him over to his desk, sitting down and preparing to read it. “Story from Gertrude Robison regarding the disappearance of the young prince. Story recieved-”

“Archivist!” a voice cut through the tower, causing Jon to drop the story. Elias had returned, and much earlier than he was intended to. “Come now, Jon, you’re usually much faster than this!”

Jon raced to the window. “My apologies, Elias. Just a moment.” Jon closed his eyes, leaning into some of the properties of The Vast, conjuring a feeling of flying that brought Elias up through the window. “I thought you weren’t going to be back until sundown.”

“You sound displeased to see me, Archivist. I’m hurt,” Elias said, placing some food and some additional stories down on the table. 

“Of course I’m glad to see you, Elias I just,” Jon sighed, wilting in on himself. “I was about to read some stories, is all.”

Elias smiled, patting Jon on the head. “Ah, I understand. Well, you are in luck, I was just dropping off some provisions for you. Peter has requested I attend some function with him, it will take me out of the tower for at least three days. Can’t have my little Archivist starving before I come back.”

Jon regarded his mentor carefully, trying to mask his disappointment. “Oh, you’ll be gone tomorrow?”

“Is there a problem, Jon?” Elias asked, stopping at Jon’s desk. 

“I had just hoped you would be here for my birthday is all,” Jon mumbled out. 

“Diction, Jonathan. You know how important it is to speak clearly,” Elias said, his eyes catching on the story Jon had been about to read. He grabbed it, turning furiously to Jon. “How did this get here?”

Jon stumbled back, Gerry cowering behind him. “I… It was just in the pile you brought me from last time. The Eye seemed interested in it, I was about to read it when you arrived.” This answer seemed to calm Elias some. “You know, Elias, I’ve been thinking… Shouldn’t I be trying to Know more about that missing prince? Or those lanterns? They’re huge blindspots for The Eye, I think it wants me to go out and explore these mysteries.”

There was a tense moment of silence between the two of them, Elias still gripping the story in his hand. Shoving the story into his pocket, he reached into the drawer and held out a brush to Jon. “I’m suddenly feeling a bit faint, Archivist. Would you mind?”

The whiplash from their conversation caused Jon to pause momentarily, but he nodded, allowing himself to be guided over to the chair. As he felt Elias begin to run the brush through his hair, he began to speak. "Ceaseless Watcher, turn your gaze upon this wretched thing. See what lies within in them, clamoring for the ability to fix and change. Know what they can give of themselves. Behold the change that will take place."

Elias let out a contented sigh as he stopped running the comb through Jon’s hair. Unbeknownst to Jon, another streak of silver had entered his black hair. “As I was saying, Elias-”

“Jon, we’ve discussed this,” Elias said, standing to put the brush away. As he did, he retrieved a match, dropping the story Jon had intended on reading into a bucket and setting it alight. Jon physically winced, but there was nothing he could do now. “It’s far too dangerous for you to leave this tower.  _ You’re _ far too dangerous to leave this tower. You can barely control yourself. I am at risk every time I come up here, but I do it for you. To keep you and everyone else safe."

Jon recoiled as if Elias had slapped him. It had always been implied that Jon, with his markings from all of the entities, was dangerous to be around. But to hear Elias throw it in his face so blatantly stung more than Jon could begin to explain. Elias had been all Jon had ever known, taking care of him for his entire life. Jon couldn’t remember a life before Elias, couldn’t imagine a life without him in it. To know that Elias thought of Jon as nothing more but a risk to be dealt with cut him deep.

“I’m sorry,” Jon whispered out, looking at the smoldering ruins of the story Elias had burned. “I won’t bring it up again.”

Elias moved forward, extending his arms to Jon. Jon all but threw himself into his mentor’s embrace. “Oh, my little Archivist. Whatever will I do with you?” Elias pulled back, smiling in a familiar way at Jon. “I have to head back into the kingdom to pick up a few more things for you. Try and get through some stories before I get back, okay? And forget about that silly prince and those lanterns. Some things are better left forgotten.”

Jon nodded, following Elias to the window and manipulating the powers of The Vast once more to send Elias back down. As his mentor walked away, Jon watched after him, staying at the window until Elias was far, far away from the tower.

“Well there goes that plan, Gerry,” Jon sighed, turning to his little companion. “I suppose we will have to find another story as well. Pity. I think The Eye would’ve enjoyed that story.”

  
  



	3. A Lonely Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin prepares for the heist of his life and meets a stranger in a tower

Martin Blackwood woke just as the sun was beginning to rise with a sense of dread in his stomach. Today was the day. The day that would either make or break the lives of him and his friends.

The day they were breaking into the castle.

He shivered as he got up from the ground of their modest cottage hideout, setting about preparing some tea for everyone before waking Tim and then Sasha. The three of them had been friends for as long as Martin could remember, just a trio of child thieves on the streets of the kingdom trying their best to get by. All of them touched by different entities that lent themselves well to thievery, allowing them to survive and even thrive at times.

Sasha had a run in with The Stranger as a child, barely escaping its clutches. It left her with the ability to mimic voices and faces, which she cleverly used to rob people by disguising herself as literally anyone else. By the time they noticed a thief, she could change her face and be off.

Tim’s run in with the entities was a bit different. He had been chasing followers of The Stranger, as they had taken his brother from him. The followers knew, though, and managed to catch Tim in a trap, setting his world alight. But it didn’t kill him. The Desolation took pity on this young, helpless boy, claiming him for itself. No one notices some money or food going missing when a fire starts seemingly out of nowhere, and Tim learned this very well.

It was Martin, however, who would be key to this entire heist.

The Lonely was rather fond of Martin, taking the poor boy into its fold very early on in his life. Martin had learned to manipulate it, allowing him to disappear from the world, sneaking past those who might have a problem with his thievery. After all, it’s difficult to catch a culprit you can’t see.

And that’s what the trio was banking on.

“Shall we go over the plan one more time?” Martin asked his companions as he set cups of tea in front of them. Sasha rubbed the sleep from her eyes, nodding. She elbowed Tim, startling him into a more awake stature. “Alright. First Tim starts the fire.”

“I do it close enough to the castle that the guards will have to deal with it, but not too close to cause any real danger to the castle or anyone inside it,” Tim says with a nod, taking a sip from his tea. “The king and queen are doing their best to help, so it isn’t fair to take our frustrations out on their castle.”

“Just on their crown,” Sasha said with a smile. “I get into the castle disguised as one of the guards. I get their attention and draw as many of them to the fire as possible, leaving a clear exit path for Martin.”

“I go into the castle with the help of The Lonely and I steal the prince’s crown,” Martin said, trying to hide the slight tremor in his voice. They had never attempted a heist of this magnitude before. “I get out and meet you guys back here.”

_ Unless we get caught _ goes unsaid, but the group can feel it hanging around them like an anchor. They were professionals, they had done a million robberies before. Just none like this. 

“If we get separated, we wait it out a day or two before returning. Just in case,” Tim says, voice filled to the brim with fake confidence. “But it’ll be fine. We can do this.”

The trio finished up their tea, getting ready in a determined silence. They were going to pull this off. They had to.

They moved silently through the kingdom, making their way up to the castle. As they reached the spot that Tim had determined safest for the fire, he pulled his companions into a quick hug. “I’ll see you guys in a couple of hours.”

Martin and Sasha nodded, making their way closer to the castle. They hopped the main wall, Martin using The Lonely to drown out their sound. He got into position and watched as Sasha took on the face of a soldier. She nodded to Martin, heading off into the castle just as the smoke started to rise from outside the wall. “Good luck.”

Martin smiled in a manner he hoped was reassuring and waved her off, getting ready to call more of The Lonely to him. As often as he had used the powers to disappear, it still left him feeling shaken and raw most times. The mental energy it took to enter and leave The Lonely at will was staggering, but Martin could do this. They needed to get this crown.

He had just gathered enough of the power around him to disappear completely when Sasha raced by with a gaggle of guards, heading towards the fire. That was his cue. Now fully invisible to the world, Martin slipped in through the open door and headed off to the room where they kept the crown.

It felt wrong to Martin, in many ways, to be robbing from the shrine to the lost prince. Fifteen years on and the kingdom was still grieving the loss. How could they not? It was a miracle that the prince had even been born at all, and then to disappear so young, it left a foul taste in the mouth of the kingdom. Still, the trio needed the money from the crown if they ever hoped to escape the kingdom and find some place where they wouldn’t have to be robbers and thieves forever. 

The crown was held in a room just off the main corridor of the castle. It sat on a pedestal, glimmering in the light of the room. Three eye shaped emeralds shining in the midst of a web of silver and smaller pieces of emerald. Just in front of it stood two guards, pacing back and forth as if they were expecting Martin to be there. 

Martin sighed silently, making his way around the guards over to the crown. When their backs were turned, he placed the crown in his satchel and made his way silently to the exit. Or, at least, he tried to. Just before he could reach the door, one of the guards bumped into him, snapping him out of The Lonely. They stared at each other in shock for a moment before Martin’s reflexes kicked in and he ran. 

“Stop! Thief!”

Martin raced through the castle, trying desperately to call The Lonely back to him but he couldn’t focus long enough to do it. His best bet was just to run, run as far and as fast as he could and hope to every imaginable god that they didn’t send The Hunter after him. He wouldn’t be able to escape her for long if they did. 

As he made it back to the woods, he could hear horses behind him. Couldn’t go back to the safehouse, then. Best to keep running and hope he could find a place to hide. He could hear someone barking orders and fear filled his stomach as he knew it was The Hunter. If he didn’t find a place to hide and fast, he wouldn’t even live to see a trial. 

They were closing in on him, he could feel it. Oh gods, he hoped at least Tim and Sasha didn’t get caught. They might not have the crown, but at least they’d have their lives. Martin ducked behind a rock, hoping to at least catch his breath for a moment before running again. As he leaned back against the ivy covered stone, he fell through it. 

“What the…” Martin mumbled, noticing that there was a cave behind the ivy. He ran through it, hiding further in the cave as he heard the horses approaching. “Maybe they won’t find me…” Martin held his breath as he heard The Hunter dismount. After a few moments, he heard her climb back on the horse and the sound of horses rushing back into the forest. Martin breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe, for now.

It was at that moment that the tower caught his eye. At the other end of the cave was a clearing with an impossibly tall tower standing in its center. There was no clear door, only a large window near the top of the structure. Martin felt drawn to it, moving closer to the tower almost against his volition. He stood at the base of it for a moment, trying to think of a way in, when he remembered the arrows he had packed. They should be sturdy enough to help him scale this wall.

The climb took him a little while, but Martin managed to pull himself into the tower. He managed to catch his breath and take a cursory glance around the room before feeling a sharp pain at the back of his head. Then his world went dark. 


	4. The Archivist's Bargain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon discovers control and makes a deal with Martin

Jon had just finished reading through a story about The Lonely when someone pulled themselves through the window. Acting purely on instincts, Jon ran over and hit the person in the back of the head with a pipe he had lying around. The person fell to the floor, and Jon jumped back. 

“Good lord,” he muttered to himself, trying to figure out the best place to put the person who had just stumbled into his home. “Elias told me this couldn’t happen. Oh, god, Gerry, what am I going to do?”

Gerry looked as panicked as Jon felt in that moment, racing around the fallen man as if it would somehow wake him up. At one point, Gerry stopped and looked at Jon, as if his frantic racing had cleared up all the info Jon had needed. 

“Alright, just remain calm,” Jon mumbled aloud, moving to try and get the man off the ground. “We’ll have to hide him. Elias should be back soon. Where can we put him that Elias won’t look for him?” It was at that moment that The Eye decided to be helpful, pulling Jon’s attention towards the wardrobe below the stairs. “Right. Right! That’ll have to do.” 

The man ( _ Martin Blackwood, wanted thief _ The Eye provided unhelpfully) was much larger than Jon was. It would be near impossible to move him on his own, and Gerry wasn’t going to be much help. Gerry glared at Jon as if he had heard the thought pass through his mind. “Well, it’s true! You’re even smaller than I am, how are you supposed to help me move a body?”

Jon would have to lean into The Flesh to make himself stronger. The Flesh was one of his least favorite powers to read stories on, it always left him feeling slightly wrong in his own body, as if The Flesh was holding onto him for later usage. He shuddered at the thought, but knew it had to be done otherwise Elias would either kill the man ( _ Martin! _ The Eye chimed in again) or would punish Jon. Neither sounded like good options at that moment. 

Jon allowed himself to lean into the powers of The Flesh, feeling himself get stronger and more prepared to lift the body in front of him. The magic flowed through him, coursing around his muscles and squeezing in a way that was almost painful. Still, Jon managed to pull the body up and get it over into the wardrobe. As he shut the door, shoving a chair in front of it to keep it closed, he relaxed, allowing The Flesh to loosen its grip. The slimy feeling of meat and muscle stayed on his arms for several minutes, but at least it was done now.

Gerry looked at Jon, clearly impressed with his efforts. “I am capable of controlling my powers now, you know,” Jon said, the words hitting him in the face. “I’m capable of controlling my powers! Clearly I am, Gerry, look at what I just did! This wasn’t just asking The Vast to get Elias up here, this was serious manipulation of The Flesh and my body! Something Elias didn’t teach me and I had never even thought of doing before! And I did it! All I have to do is tell Elias, surely he’ll allow me to go and study the lanterns if he see what I’ve-”

Jon cut himself off, looking back at the wardrobe and thinking about the man inside.  _ Martin Blackwood _ The Eye told him for the third time.  _ Wanted thief. Stole from the castle. Knows how to get around the kingdom without being spotted. Touched by The Lonely.  _ The information, however surface level, flooded into Jon’s brain. Elias would surely kill him if Jon told Elias he was there. There was no doubt in Jon’s mind.  _ Knows how to get around the kingdom without being spotted. _

Before Jon could ponder that repeated message from The Eye, he heard Elias calling his name. He returned to the window, manipulating The Vast to allow Elias back into the tower. “Welcome back, Elias.”

“Ah, someone is in a much better mood,” Elias said, patting Jon on the head. “Did you manage to find a good story?” Jon nodded, trying to find the words to ask the question burning in his mind. “That’s good. Well, I was just stopping in again to drop off the last of the provisions for the next few days. You’ll be alright on your own, yes?” Elias turned back towards the window, not waiting for Jon to reply.

“Actually, Elias,” Jon said, finding his voice yet again. “Can I ask you something, before you go?”

A brief flash of frustration passed over Elias’s face, but he schooled it quickly, smiling at Jon. “Of course, my dear Archivist. Ask away.”

“What would happen if I were around other people?” A dark look crossed Elias’s face, causing Jon to panic. “I’m not asking to leave again, Elias. I promise. I… The Eye was just curious, I suppose.”

Elias smiled patronizingly at Jon, stepping forward and patting him on the head again. “Our benefactor works in mysterious ways, I suppose. Alright, Jon, I’ll tell you. But only because you asked. Were it up to me, you would never know the pain you could cause,” Jon stiffened, but Elias continued. “But since you asked. You are drawn very heavily to knowledge, Jon. That’s partially my fault, I’ll admit, but it’s mostly just who you are. You know how you can get when you don’t read any stories for some time? Were you to enter the kingdom, it would be just like that, that hungry, near starving feeling, all the time.

“What’s worse is what you would do to those people. You would pull the stories out of them, compel them to tell you every single brush with the entities they’ve ever had. It would hurt them, leave them traumatized, all so you could get your fill of knowledge. And then there’s the people who could hurt you, who could take you and force you to do rituals to benefit their masters. Causing you pain and causing everyone not aligned with that entity pain. That’s why you have to stay up here, Jon. You are a weapon. A cannon that could go off at any point, ruining the lives of those around you in the process.” Elias looked at Jon, eyes full of malice disguised as concern. “Does that answer your question?”

Jon stumbled backwards, landing in the chair he had propped in front of the wardrobe. “I… Yes, Elias. Thank you.”

“If that’s everything, then, would you mind letting me down from here? I will return in three days’ time.”

Staggering over, Jon called the power of The Vast to him once more. “Enjoy your trip, Elias.”

Elias sighed, pulling Jon into a quick hug before starting his descent. “I did try to tell you, Archivist. Some things are better unknown. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Once more, Jon watched as Elias walked out of sight of the tower, off into a world that Jon so desperately wanted to see. He turned back to the wardrobe. “Knows how to get around the kingdom unseen, huh?”

***

It took some time to get Martin tied into the chair. Jon hadn’t even realized they had all this rope, but they did, and now the man was secure in front of him. As Jon stepped back to admire his handiwork, he noticed something glinting in the light from the window. It was coming from Martin’s satchel.

Picking it up, Jon found a silver and emerald crown. The emeralds looked like eyes, not dissimilar from how Gerry looked on most days. The silver reminded Jon of spider’s webs, lacing around the emeralds. He felt compelled to put it on, looking at himself in the mirror as Gerry stared at him. Gerry shook his head, as if disproving of Jon in the crown, but something about it felt strangely familiar to Jon. Still, this wasn’t what was important at this time, so Jon shoved the crown back into the satchel and shoved the satchel under one of the loose stairs.

“Do you think you could wake him up, Gerry?” Jon asked, not wanting to get too close after what Elias had told him. At least while he was unconscious, Jon couldn’t pull information out of him. Gerry looked at Jon, clearly unimpressed. “Well, do it then, if you’re so capable.”

Gerry floated over to Martin, stopping just above the man’s shoulder. He then let out a shrill whistling sound that Jon had never heard him make before in his life, snapping the man awake. “AH! What the… Why am I tied up?” Martin’s eyes shot up to meet Jon’s. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“I should be asking you that question, Martin Blackwood,” Jon said slowly, inching closer to the man, trying to gage what a safe distance would be. “How did you find me up here? Have you come to take me for some kind of ritual?”

“Some kind of- No! What are you talking about? How did you know my name?” 

“I… That’s not important.”

“Like hell it’s not!”

“I- ...I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have… I’m Jon,” Jon said, stepping closer to Martin, pulling up a second chair and sitting across from him. “And you’re the wanted thief who broke into my home.”

Martin looked slightly sheepish at being called out like that. “Right. Um. Sorry about that. I was…”

“Running from the guards?” Jon asked, eyebrow quirking up. He could see Gerry rolling his eye at him, but elected to ignore it. 

“Yeah. You haven’t seen my satchel, have you? Got some very important things in there. If you just give it back and untie me, I’ll be out of your hair. Gotta figure out where my companions are.”

_ Timothy Stoker and Sasha James _ The Eye whispered into his mind.  _ Currently hiding out in a safehouse in the kingdom. Perfect opportunity. _

“What do you know about the lanterns?” Jon asked, shaking Beholding from his mind.

“The lanterns?” Martin asked, still squirming against the ropes binding him to the chair. “Oh! You mean the ones they light for the prince’s birthday?”

“It’s for the prince? I thought he was missing.” Jon asked, head quirked in confusion. He took pity on Martin in that moment and decided to start untying him. It didn’t seem likely that Martin would (or even could) hurt him.

“He is,” Martin said, rubbing his wrists once freed from the ropes. “I guess the royal family used to do lanterns every year for his birthday. They kept doing it in hopes that he would see them and come back home.”

“Oh,” Jon said softly, moving back to his seat. “That’s… That’s terribly sad,”  _ Get him to take you to see them. We need to know more.  _ “Do you think you could take me to them?”

“To the lanterns?” Jon nodded. “Look, Jon, I would love to. But I have something very important to get off my hands and I have no idea where my friends are and-”

"I Know where they are!" Jon blurted out. "I can… I can take you to them. After we see the lanterns."

Martin looks at Jon, skepticism and distrust coloring his words. “How could you possibly know?”

Jon sighed, feeling Gerry poking him on the back of the head, as if telling him this was a bad idea. It, in fairness, was a bad idea. Jon didn’t know Martin. He Knew him, sure, but that could only go so far. But he needed to see those lanterns. “I… Can’t explain how I Know, but I promise you I do. And I don’t make promises lightly.”

Martin still looks skeptical, and there is a long moment where Jon is sure that he will say no. But he didn’t. "Alright, but we'll need to stop somewhere to get me a disguise first. I was spotted by the guards just today, can't quite be wandering around the city so freely."

“Really?” Jon asked, face lighting up. He was going to leave the tower. He was going to see the lanterns. He was going to Know.

“Why not?” Martin said, standing up from his seat. “If you can get me back to my friends, the very least I could do is take you to see the lanterns.”

Jon looked at the man in front of him, taken aback by his kindness. “Thank you, Martin.”

Martin smiled at him, a bright happy thing that warmed Jon from the inside out. “Of course, Jon. Now, how do we get out of here?”


	5. Snuggly Ducklings and Buried Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to see friends and a chase from a hunter

Jon could feel Martin watching him as he raced around the tower, looking for stories that might aid him on their journey. For a brief moment, Jon paused beside the pipe he had hit Martin with, weighing the pros and cons before shoving it in his bag and returning to the piles of stories Elias had brought him. “Jon, what is the pipe for?”

“Protection,” Jon said shortly, still looking through endless piles of paper. Gerry was buzzing around him as well, trying to help Jon find what he was looking for so they could finally leave. In the back of his mind, Jon could almost hear Martin wondering about something.  _ He wants to know about Gerry _ The Eye whispered. “His name is Gerry.”

“Pardon?”

“You were thinking, very loudly I might add, about the eye following me. His name is Gerry,” Jon said, finally looking up from his papers, a content smile on his face. Gerry seemed to glare at Martin, as if expecting him to have known this beforehand.

“Right,” Martin said slowly, clearly unsure of what to make of Jon and Gerry. Jon could feel the pull of The Lonely surrounding Martin. Martin was clearly trying his best to fight it, but Jon could feel how deeply it ran. Of course he would be confused by the companionship between Jon and Gerry. It definitely didn’t help that Gerry was also clearly a sign of The Eye. “Well, will you be able to get down from here? I can climb down, but you don’t look like the kind of person who climbs very often.”

“I’ll be fine getting down,” Jon said, waving him off. He shoved some papers into his bag alongside the pipe, hoping these stories would be enough to get him through the next twenty-four hours. “You start climbing, I’ll be down in a moment.”

Martin looked at Jon warily, but complied, making his way back over to the window and pulling two arrows out to stabilize himself on the climb down. Jon waited until he was about halfway down before returning to the stairs and pulling the crown out, shoving it into his bag before returning to step onto the ledge himself. “This is it, Gerry,” Jon said softly, holding the little eye in his palm. “We’re finally getting out of here. We’re finally going to know.”

Part of Jon thought that perhaps he had been out of the tower at some point in his life. He vaguely remembered blue skies and what he Knew to be grass beneath his feet. The memory was so hazy that it felt more like a dream. Perhaps it had never even been real. Right now was real, though. And right now, Jon was going to leap.

He leaned into The Vast the way Elias had always taught him, calling upon it and surrounding himself with it. Then he stepped forward and let himself fall.

There was a brief moment where Jon worried he had made a mistake as he felt the world rushing past him, but at the last moment it slowed and lowered Jon softly onto the grass. The feeling of it beneath his feet was so foreign and so achingly familiar that he couldn’t help it, he ran towards the cave leading out past the tower. 

“Jon? Wait up!” he heard Martin calling, but nothing could slow Jon as he made it into the woods. He was out. He was  _ free _ .

“I can’t believe I did this,” Jon whispered, looking at the forest surrounding him. “I can’t believe I did this!”

Martin came running up behind him, slightly out of breath and looking at Jon like he was a mad man. “I… Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Martin. I’m better than fine! I’m out of the tower! Elias can’t- oh god Elias,” Jon said, the weight of what he had done crashing down around him. Jon looked at Martin, feeling the fear entering his eyes as he looked at this man who agreed to help. Would Jon end up hurting him? He hadn’t wanted to extract any stories from Martin yet, perhaps he could control himself. But what if Elias was right? What if he was dangerous?

“Jon?”

Jon collapsed at the base of a nearby tree, pulling his knees to his chest. What if he really was a danger? What if Elias found out and punished him? What if- “Jon!” Martin yelled, kneeling down in front of the shaking man on the ground. “What happened?”

“I… I’ve never left that tower before,” Jon said softly, feeling Gerry float by and nuzzle into the side of his neck. “Me and Gerry have been up there for as long as I can remember. What if… What if it’s dangerous?” Jon asks, feeling too afraid to ask  _ what if I’m dangerous _ . “What if Elias finds out, I mean-”

“Who’s Elias?” Martin asked, taking a seat next to Jon and rubbing his back gently. Jon froze for a moment before allowing himself to relax into the feeling of Martin’s hand on his back. It was quite nice.

“He’s… He’s my mentor. The closest thing I have to a parent of any kind. He raised me, up in that tower, making sure I was well educated and taken care of and I just disobeyed the one rule he’s ever given me.”

Jon could almost hear Martin thinking, but The Eye wouldn’t tell him what was running through the other man’s brain this time. Perhaps he was judging Jon for betraying his mentor, or thinking that Jon should just go back up to his tower. Perhaps he was wondering if Jon was somehow dangerous. “Maybe I should just go back,” Jon said softly. “I’ll return your satchel and you can go.”

“No,” Martin said suddenly and firmly, his eyes filled with a resolve that Jon had never seen in another person before. “No. You’re not going back there. Not until you’ve seen those lanterns. That was the deal, I’m going to see it through.”

This puzzled Jon. He was sure that Martin would be happy to be rid of him and regain his prize. “Martin, what-”

“Are you hungry?” Martin asked, standing suddenly and offering a hand to Jon, pulling him up from the ground. “I bet you’re hungry. I’m hungry. And I know the perfect place to get some food and some information and made a disguise or two for myself. Come on,” Martin said, pulling Jon along behind him. 

Jon followed along behind Martin, still confused by the sudden confidence and desire to show Jon the lanterns. He almost wanted to ask about it, but found that for once this was information he didn’t want to feed to The Eye. Something about it felt different, almost personal. Jon would just have to hold off.

They made their way silently through the woods until stumbling upon a tavern. The sign outside the door read “The Snuggly Duckling” in a swirling font. “Come on, this way,” Martin said, guiding Jon to a backdoor. Martin knocked a few times, waiting but a moment before a short lady with a knife in her hands opened the door. 

“Who’s there? Blackwood, if that’s you, I swear to god-”

“Good to see you too, Melanie,” Martin said, reaching forward and lowering the arm with the knife in it. It was at that moment that Jon realized the lady, Melanie, must be blind. Her eyes stared straight past Martin, some kind of damage clearly done to them. Martin seemed unphased by the woman’s anger or her knife. “Might we come in, please? I need to speak to Georgie.”

Melanie grumbled but moved aside to let them in. They were clearly in some sort of kitchen behind a bar, and another woman quickly noticed them. “Martin! Oh thank god you’re alright!” she said, running up to Martin and wrapping him in a tight hug. “Tim and Sasha stopped here briefly but said they had to keep moving. I told them to leave a note for you but they said something about The Hunter and-”

“Easy, Georgie,” Martin said with a smile. “One might think you’re actually afraid for once.”

“Hardly,” Georgie said, hitting him on the shoulder. “Angry with you lot, more like. No communication through me even when I have plenty of places to hide things from The Hunter. Starting to think you all don’t trust me.”

Martin laughed, throwing an arm around Georgie. “Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you, Georgie. We hit a snag in our heist is all and now I have to outrun The Hunter as well as help out Jon over here,” Martin gestured to Jon, who was being noticed for the first time in this whole endeavor. He waved awkwardly. “Said he could help me find Tim and Sasha if I helped him get into the kingdom.”

“Martin that’s suicide,” Georgie said flatly, clearly unimpressed. “You’ll never be able to get into the kingdom unnoticed with The Hunter on your tail.”

“Not without your help,” He said, a pleading smile on his face. “You’re the only one who could mask me from The Hunt even a little bit.”

Georgie looked away from Martin for a moment, turning her focus onto Jon. Jon tried to Know her, but something about her rebuffed his advances. It was almost as if the entities couldn’t touch her.  _ “One might think you’re actually afraid for once” Oh.  _ “You can’t feel fear. You’re safe from the entities.”

“Correct,” Georgie said flatly. “What gave it away?”

“Martin said you almost seemed afraid for once. If you’re never afraid, how could they hold you? Fear is their main power source.”

Georgie studied Jon for another moment. “I like this one, Martin. Actually has a bit of a brain in his head. I’ll do my best to get you guys some cover, but I make no promises that it’ll hold against The Hunter.”

_ Daisy Tonner _ The Eye provided with ease.  _ Head of the royal guard. Heavily entwined with The Hunt. Can and will find anyone she looks for. She’s here. _

“She’s here,” Jon whispered out, before repeating himself again. “She’s here. Martin, we have to go, now.”

Georgie and Martin both looked alarmed, and they could hear Melanie talking to someone in the front of the tavern. The Hunter had found them. “We have to go!”

Georgie hit a lever on her counter, opening a trap door beneath the kitchen. “This way! Should slow her down at least a little bit!” Jon and Martin nodded at each other, then back at Georgie, before entering the trap door. “Good luck, boys.”

***

Elias was only a few hours from the tower when he noticed all of the guards in the area. He had never seen this many in the forest before. He pulled off besides a tree and listened, trying to glean some information as his patron did not deign this worthy. 

“We’ll find him, Captain,” one of the guards said to a stern looking lady on a horse. “We know he’s around here somewhere, it won’t be long now.”

At that moment, another horse rode up. “He’s been spotted! Let’s move!”

“No,” Elias whispered, whipping around to race back to the tower. He would never be fast enough on foot, but maybe he could make it. There were no guards in the area when he returned which seemed promising. “Archivist!” he called, the sound of his voice almost echoing around him. “Jon!”

There was no response. 

He ran to the back of the tower, pulling at some stones to reveal a hidden staircase and raced to the top. It was empty. No signs of Jon or his little eye friend. Nothing. 

_ He’s with the one who carries the crown _ The Eye hissed into Elias’s brain, flashes of Jon and a wanted poster and the crown all falling in place after him. Someone had come here, someone had taken Jon.

Elias had to get him back.

***

They hustled quietly through the passage that Georgie had opened for them, hoping that the tunnel would keep The Hunter from finding them. Martin regarded his companion with much curiosity, wondering what kind of power he possessed to know that The Hunter was on their doorstep.

“You can ask, you know,” Jon said softly as they moved through the dirtlined path. “I don’t promise that I’ll answer, but you can ask.”

Martin rubbed his neck sheepishly, catching sight of Gerry glaring at him from his location floating above Jon’s shoulder. Gerry was clearly not very fond of Martin, and Martin could feel it in the gaze of the floating eye. “How did you know she was there?” 

Jon opened his mouth to answer and then stilled very suddenly. “The same way I know she’s close behind us. We have to run.”

Martin instinctively reached out and took Jon’s hand, allowing Jon to lead them through the tunnel. He didn’t know how, but it seemed like Jon knew exactly where they needed to go. As they ran, still hand in hand, Martin strained his ear to listen for The Hunter. He couldn’t hear anything, but Jon still raced forward as if she were right on their heels. It seemed like they would make it out when the tunnel behind them started to collapse.

“What is she doing?” Jon hissed, pulling Martin into a small aside that seemed safe from the rising dirt, at least for the moment. “She’s going to get herself killed.”

Martin let out a sad laugh. “She doesn’t care if she dies as long as we go out with her. Look, Jon,” he said, pointing to the dirt and sand beginning to fill the small bit of refuge they had found. “There’s no getting out of this. She’s trapped us. At least I can die knowing she’ll go out with me.”  _ At least I know Tim and Sasha will be safe, even if they don’t have the crown. _

Jon looked at Martin, clearly appalled. “No, Martin, I can… I can get us out of here I just have to think…” Jon started digging through his bag, but Martin grabbed his arm to stop him. “Jon. It’s okay. There’s no saving us from this.” 

This seemed to subdue Jon, even if just for the moment. “I never should’ve left. I never should’ve gotten you involved. I’m so sorry, Martin. Elias was right.”

Martin wanted to fight Jon on this, to scream at him that there was no way the man keeping him locked in a tower was right about anything, but it felt best not to die arguing. “You said he was your mentor, yeah?” Jon nodded. “What did he teach you? Might as well go out learning something interesting.”

“He… He taught me how to control my- My powers!” Jon said, pushing off the dirt suddenly. “Martin, hold on to me. I’m getting us out of here.”

Martin wanted to argue, but he saw something in Jon’s eyes that said it was best just to do as he asked. He grabbed Jon’s hand once more and felt as the earth started to shift around them, moving out of their way. It was as if Jon were commanding it, forcing it away from them. They walked in silence again for a moment before Jon stopped. “Daisy.”

“What?” Martin asked, confused. And then he saw a hand poking out of the dirt. “Oh god.”

“It’s… She’s The Hunter. But I can’t just leave her here to die,” Jon said, looking at Martin with pleading eyes. “Please. Help me carry her out of here, I… I can’t do it alone.” They moved closer to the hand, the dirt moving away to reveal the guard who had been chasing them for so long. Part of Martin wanted to leave her there, she posed such a threat to him and his loved ones. But Jon was right, they couldn’t just let her die. Not when they could save her. Martin picked her up easily, slinging her over his shoulder and keeping one hand on Jon. Finally they started moving again, making their way out of the tunnel.

The ground opened up to let them back to the surface, closing almost as soon as Martin stepped through after Jon. The sun was beginning to set, Martin noticed, as Jon led them to a tree not far from the river that flowed towards the kingdom. Martin set The Hunter down, turning to Jon with amazement in his eyes. "How… how did you do that?" Martin asked as he turned back to Jon who had managed to gather some kindling for a fire. "You don't strike me as the kind to be marked by the Buried."

"I'm marked by all of them," Jon whispered out softly, eyes focused on the wood in front of them. With a small touch of his hand, the wood caught fire. Martin gasped softly, but Jon seemed focused on the fire burning in front of them.

"Jon-"

"Can we please not do this right now, Martin?" Jon pleaded, scared eyes finally meeting Martin's. "For now can I just rest?"

Martin smiled, trying his best to be comforting. "Of course, Jon. Since you got the fire started, I'll go and find some more wood to keep it going. I think the head guard back there will be sleeping this off for a little while."

Jon nodded absently, eyes returning to the burning wood as Martin went to find more to burn.


	6. Entering the Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon makes another deal. He and Martin explore the kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really where we get into discussions of abuse and stuff so if that will be triggering for you please proceed with caution

The world was dark around Jon. Not Dark, but simply dark, as he tried to get his bearings. There was a subtle glow of green coming from behind him, and as he turned around, he saw Elias. “Hello, Jon.”

“Elias,” Jon said, scrambling back from the man but finding it near impossible to move. “What… What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

Elias took a step forward in the darkness, seemingly unbothered by Jon’s apparent struggling. “I simply followed the sound of betrayal until I happened upon you. It’s time to come home, Jon,” Elias said, the words dripping over Jon like water, dousing him in the desire, the  _ need _ , to follow the order. 

Jon could feel himself about to comply when static started to fill his mind and his vision. As it faded, Jon felt agency over himself again. “No.”

“No?” Elias asked, clearly shocked but almost impressed as he gazed upon Jon with a curious quirk of his eyebrow. “Oh. I see how it is. One little trip out of the castle with a wanted thief and you think you’re more powerful than you are. Oh, Archivist, did you forget about the dangers you pose? Clearly you did. Fine. If you want to continue to put everyone around you at risk, all for a little bit of useless knowledge, don’t let me stop you. But don’t expect me to save you either.”

Elias snapped his fingers and Jon shot up, waking up suddenly in the clearing he and Martin had set up camp in the night before. “A dream. It was a dream. But it felt so real…” Jon muttered to himself, taking stock of the campsite and hoping he hadn’t woken Martin. He hadn’t, but it was clear The Hunter was now awake. She gazed at him with curious eyes, as if she were assessing the best way to tear him to pieces. Her eyes flitted momentarily to Martin, and Jon held up his hand. “Wait. Please.”

Daisy, seemingly surprised by his boldness, gestured for him to continue. “I… I need his help.”

“Trying to do a bit of robbery in the kingdom?” Daisy asked with a sneer. “Never seen you before, guess that means you’re either new to it or just that good. My money is on the former, you reek of naivety.” She stood up, starting to make her way over to Martin, but Jon blocked her path. “You’re bold, I’ll give you that.”

“I also saved your life,” Jon sniped, trying to keep himself from shaking at The Eye whispered all of her crimes into his mind. She could kill him, would kill him, given the chance. And no one in the kingdom would care. “You would’ve remained buried in there had it not been for me and Martin.”

“You think I care?”

“I think you do,” Jon said, taking a small step closer to Daisy. “I don’t think dying to catch a petty thief is how you would want to go out.”

Daisy said nothing, but dropped her defensive stance, taking a step towards Jon non-threateningly. “What would you have me do, then? Just let the man who stole the royal crown go?”

“Just for today. Twenty-four hours. Then he’s all yours,” Jon said, hoping that Martin would understand. It wasn’t as if Jon would be around after this. Daisy seemed to be considering it, studying Jon once more. “It’s also my birthday,” he added, hoping this would win him some points. 

“Twenty-four hours.” Daisy said firmly. “Then if I see either of you again I’m taking you in.”

“Thank you,” Jon said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much, Daisy.”

She glared at Jon for a second before turning to leave. “I owe you this much for saving my life,” she said before running off back into the woods, leaving Jon alone in the clearing with Martin.

Jon turned back to face his companion, hoping that he hadn’t woken up during that exchange. Unfortunately he had, and was staring at Jon. “Oh. Um. Good morning, Martin.”

“Did you just negotiate me out of getting arrested for the next day?” Martin asked, sitting up and still staring at Jon with an unreadable expression.

“Yes?” Jon said, unsure of how to continue. He could feel Gerry starting to wake up on his shoulder, offering no help to the current situation. “I would’ve tried to buy you more time but I didn’t think Daisy would-”

“Jon. Thank you,” Martin said, cutting him off. “You’ve bought me twenty-four hours that I never would’ve had otherwise. So thank you.”

“Oh. You’re welcome, then,” Jon said, shuffling from one foot to the other. “Um… Shall we head into the kingdom, then?”

Martin nodded, getting himself up off the ground. “We’ll still have to lay kind of low for the time being, other guards will still arrest me.”

Jon nodded, excitement starting to fill him once again as they made their way through the last stretch of forest before the kingdom. As they stood at the bridge connecting the woods to the city, Jon had to pause and take it all in. The city seemed to stretch into the sky even higher than the tower did with layers of homes and shops on a hill leading up to the castle. It took everything in him not to race towards the city, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself and get them caught. He walked carefully, trying his best to keep within Martin’s line of sight and keep out of the way of oncoming people.

The city bustled in a way Jon had never seen before. He had read about it in the stories Elias would bring him, but that wasn’t the same as seeing it before him in real life. Jon was certain he was grinning like a madman but he didn’t care. He was here. He had made it.

“I know you’re mostly here about the lanterns,” Martin said as he caught up with Jon who had slipped away in the crowd. “But I have something I think you would enjoy seeing as well, come on,” he said as he slipped his hand into Jon’s leading him through the winding streets of the kingdom. They came to stop at a large, plain looking building for a moment before Martin was pulling Jon inside. There were stacks and shelves filled with books all over the place. “I’m assuming you haven’t been to the library before,” Martin said, turning to look at Jon as Jon looked around the space.

Jon was in awe at the sheer amount of knowledge surrounding them in that moment. He could feel The Eye, desperate to drink it all in even if it wasn’t about fear. It was simply about knowing in that moment, and Jon was ready to know all that he could. He turned to Martin and whispered out a soft “Thank you” before grabbing the man’s hand and allowing The Eye to lead him to whatever information it wanted. Soon Jon’s arms were piled with books, Martin’s as well, and they found a small room for themselves to read in, far from the wandering eye of any other patrons. They sat on the floor, surrounded by the piles of books Jon had amassed, and started to read.

It was only after tearing voraciously through the first few books that Jon realized Martin was watching him. “Is something wrong?” Jon asked, not looking up from the book in his hands.

Martin shook his head, cheeks turning red as he realized he had been caught. “No, no, I was just… Thinking, I suppose.”

Jon put the book down, finally looking at Martin. “Thinking about what?”

“About what you said last night?” Martin said, words tumbling out of his mouth almost like a question. “About how you’re… marked by all of the entities.”

“Ah. That.” Jon was tempted to pick his book back up and brush the subject off, but he felt as though he owed this to Martin. “Well… I don’t know how it happened, not really. Elias always told me he found me like this, a vessel for all of the powers. Said that they were responsible for the white streaks in my hair, making it clear that there was power in me.”

“And he taught you how to use it?” Martin asked, scooting closer to Jon.

Jon nodded. “He would bring me stories, from the kingdom, about people and their experiences with the entities. I’m… I’m not entirely sure where he got the stories from. I never asked. He would just bring home stacks of them, written out neatly on pieces of paper for me to read and to learn from.”

Martin stared at Jon for a moment, eyes first filled with curiosity that slowly turned to concern and something akin to pity. “Are you really going to go back to him?”

The dream he had had that night came crashing back to Jon in an instant. He was dangerous. He should go back. And yet… “No. Yes. I don’t know. It’s… It’s incredibly complicated.”

“I don’t think it is, Jon,” Martin said, the firm edge that his voice had taken on when Jon originally told him about Elias seeping back in. “I think it’s abuse and that you shouldn’t go back.”

“It’s hardly abuse,” Jon scoffed, eyes falling away from Martin. “He never did anything to hurt me, he just-”

“Kept you away from all other people for  _ years? _ Told you that you needed him, that you owed him for all he taught you?”

“How did you-”

“I know abuse when I see it, Jon,” Martin said, shrinking back in on himself a little bit. He looked as though he were about to say more, but then decided against it, picking up a book of poems he had snuck into Jon’s piles earlier.

“Martin…” Jon started, trying to choose his words carefully. He didn’t want to pry, but at the same time he didn’t want Martin to be hurting alone. “What happened?”

Martin sighed, putting his book down, mirroring Jon’s actions from earlier. “I… My mother… My mother wasn’t always the greatest mother. It often felt like I could never do enough, could never  _ be _ enough for her. But I had to be there for her, she raised me, I owed her. Or at least that’s what she said. That’s what I thought.” Martin broke off for a moment, gaze traveling to the nearby window. “I don’t know if I was Lonely before her or because of her, but I know that I could feel it under my skin when she died. I had only existed to help her, to take care of her. I was isolated from anyone other than her and when she died… It’s not good for someone so young to be exposed to The Lonely. But at the same time, I wouldn’t have been able to free myself from it if it hadn’t happened so young.”

Jon scooted closer to Martin, gently inching his hand forward, waiting for Martin to nod before gently rubbing his arm. “What happened after that?”

Martin smiled, the barest tinge of sadness at the corners of it. “I met Tim and Sasha. We were young, couldn’t have been older than ten at that point. Just a gang of child thieves, all touched by powers that no child should ever know. Helped us be better thieves, sure, but still. At what cost, right?” Martin chuckled hollowly. “But then there’s you, touched by all the powers even younger than we were. God, Jon, how do you stand it?”

Jon was quiet for a moment, still absentmindedly rubbing Martin’s arm. How  _ did _ he stand it? Even with his closest ties being to The Eye, he could still constantly feel the other thirteen thrumming through him, playing him like a drum. The only reason he was even  _ here _ in this room with Martin was because of these entities. Was any of his life really his to begin with? “I’m not sure I do stand it, Martin,” he said softly, hand stilling on Martin’s arm. “I think I just… accepted that it was all I’ve ever known.”

“Oh Jon…” Martin said, reaching over and grabbing the hand that was on his arm, squeezing it tightly. They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment before Martin squeezed his hand again, “You can’t… You shouldn’t go back there, Jon. Not if you don’t want to.”

“What else would I do?” Jon said, looking at Martin with tired eyes. 

“You could come with us,” Martin said like it was the easiest thing in the world. “Me and Tim and Sasha. You could come with us wherever we go.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It should be, though,” Martin said, a pained smile on his face. “It really should be.”

Jon looked away from Martin, not trusting himself to keep from doing something foolish like agreeing to run away with him. “Can we just… Let’s change the subject. Please.”

Martin squeezed his hand once more before letting it drop. “Of course, Jon. Whatever you say,” He took stock of some of the pile Jon was working through. “You’ve got a lot of books here on the kingdom itself. What, Elias never bothered to teach you your own history?”

“No,” Jon said, a bit of bitterness seeping into the word. “He felt it was more important to teach me about the entities. But, well… I just wanted to know more about the kingdom I suppose.”

“Well,” Martin said, taking the book from Jon and putting it back on the pile. “We’re here, in the kingdom, right now. No better way to learn than by actually seeing it. Come on, I’ll give you a history tour.” He stood up, holding his hand out to Jon once again. Jon hesitated for a moment before taking it, following Martin back out of the library and into the street. “First things first, we’ll stop at the prince’s shrine. Would’ve been his birthday today, should pay our respects. Plus that’s as close as we’ll get to the castle without me being arrested.”

They walked quietly through the crowded streets, Martin occasionally pointing to a building and sharing some of the history behind it. As they reached what Martin had called the shrine, Jon saw a gorgeous mosaic of the king, queen, and their young son. The baby had a shock of white running through his black hair, looking familiar in a way Jon couldn’t place. “What happened to him?”

“He was taken,” Martin said softly, trying not to draw attention to them as they made their way closer to the mosaic and laid a few flowers under it as they had seen others doing. “Someone broke in, killed his advisor and stole the prince away.”

“Did he have a name?” Jon asked, staring at the mosaic, trying to figure out what about it was so familiar to him. The Eye was, as ever, unhelpful in this endeavor. Even Gerry seemed more enraptured in this than usual, as if he were trying to drink in information for The Eye as well. 

Martin opened his mouth and then closed it again. “I’m… I’m not sure. He must’ve, he was well known in the kingdom for five years before he was taken. Why can’t I recall his name?”

Jon frowned. “It’s strange that you wouldn’t know his name either. And I suppose it would be rude to go around asking people for the name of a long gone prince… I suppose this will just have to remain a mystery. What’s next on your little tour, Martin?”

“Well…” Martin said, looking at the sky and seeing the sun start to wane. “I think I have a better idea in mind.”


	7. See the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment Jon had been waiting for his whole life.

Jon followed Martin through the streets back down near the water and over to a small dock. At the end of the dock sat a simple wooden boat which Martin walked over to and got in. “Come on!”

Jon carefully got into the boat with Martin. “What’s all this about?”

Martin just smiled, untying the boat from the dock and starting to row them out to the middle of the water surrounding the kingdom. “It’s your first time seeing the lanterns. Thought I would give you the best view possible.”

Something in Martin’s smile and the care and consideration he had for Jon warmed Jon from the inside out, his face heating up. Gerry looked at him, clearly not impressed with the situation unfolding, and decided to float around the other end of the boat, not watching the two. “Thank you, Martin. For everything.”

They sat there in silence for a little while, watching the sky and waiting. This was the moment Jon had been waiting for for so much of his life now. His eyes locked on the sky, nervousness dancing through him. “Is… You’ve seen the lanterns before, yes?”

“Yes,” Martin said simply, but Jon could feel that his gaze had locked onto Jon rather than the sky.

“What if it’s not everything I’ve dreamed it to be?” Jon whispered out, still looking up at the stars shining above him. It felt as though The Vast was circling around him, trying to pull him up into the sky with it.

“Jon,” Martin said, taking Jon’s hand in his. “It will be.”

“And what do I do then?” Jon asked, looking over at Martin, the weight of this moment finally crashing down around him. This was all he had longed for for fifteen years. What would he do when this ended? Just go back to his life in the tower with Elias? Stay with Martin, finding a home amongst him and his friends? Or perhaps this would be the moment Jon ceased to exist, falling over to The Watcher and disappearing for good.

Martin ran his thumb soothingly up and down Jon’s hand where they were still clasped together. “I think you just find a new dream after this. Something else to chase.”

“Martin-” Jon was cut off by the sight of the first lantern floating into the sky. It floated alone, a single burning flame cutting through the darkness. Jon watched, enraptured by this single point and then more followed suit.

Soon hundreds of lanterns were making their way into the sky, coming from the kingdom and from other boats near where Jon and Martin had stopped themselves. The soft but brilliant glow of oranges and yellow bouncing towards the sky, surrounding Jon.

It was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was like nothing he had ever Seen before. For all he had read of The Desolation, he never understood the call of her flames, never wanted to join her fiery embrace. But now, standing surrounded by the glow of the lanterns, watching them float and surround him, Jon could almost understand the appeal. There was something about standing in the light, knowing it could not harm you, that filled Jon with a peace he had never known before.

The Eye was drinking it all in as well, whispering words of awe into Jon’s mind, not focused on anything but the color and the warmth that surrounded them. Like Jon, The Eye was finally learning what the lanterns were. There was no mental block, no blindspot. Just the beauty of the moment, the feeling of community and love and longing. Jon couldn’t help but feel like it was familiar, like he had been surrounded by the lantern’s light before. 

“Martin, I-” Jon turned to face his companion, only to find Martin holding up two paper lanterns, each imprinted with a beautiful sun. “What’s all this?”

“I wanted you to have something good to hold on to, in case you decided to go back,” Martin said, holding out a lantern to Jon.

“Wait, Martin,” Jon said, reaching into his bag and finding the crown within. He held it for a moment before taking it out, holding it out to Martin. “This is yours. I’m sorry I didn’t give it to you earlier or tell you the whereabouts of your friends… I just… I was scared, I think. You know what I mean?”

Martin pushed the crown down, not paying it any mind as he handed a lantern to Jon. “I’m starting to.” Jon smiled, really truly smiled, and let the lantern go in tandem with Martin. They both allowed their gaze to follow those two lanterns for a moment before they were lost in a sea of lights and colors. 

Martin reached over and grabbed Jon’s hand again, holding it gently in his. He was so soft with Jon, gentle in a way no one had ever been to him in his life. Jon felt truly safe with Martin, reveling in that feeling. “Martin, I don’t think I want to go back to the tower,” he said, eyes finding Martin in a desperate plea for  _ something _ that Jon couldn’t quite place. 

“Then don’t,” Martin said, reaching over and grabbing Jon’s other hand. “Please, don’t go back. Stay. Stay with me.” Martin was so earnest, so caring, so everything that Jon had never experienced before. He was drawn to him like a magnet, trying and failing to escape from his pull. 

Jon started to lean forward and could see Martin doing the same when Martin suddenly shot back. “What is it? What’s wrong?” Jon asked, feeling the moment shatter around them. 

“I thought I saw…” Martin said, trailing off as he scanned the shoreline. “There! I did see! That’s Tim and Sasha!”

Casting his eyes to where Martin was pointing, Jon could see two figures standing on the beach, waving at them. “We should go over there, then.”

Martin looked back at Jon, the joy of finding his companions starting to fade from his eyes. “Are you sure? What about-”

“We saw the lanterns, Martin,” Jon said emphatically, picking up an oar and starting to row them over to the sand. “That’s all you had to do for me. And I’m not going anywhere, remember?”

Martin seemed to relax at this, picking up the other oar and helping Jon with their paddling. “Right.”

As they pulled onto the beach, Martin grabbed the crown and gestured for Jon to wait. “I want to head back out onto the water with you, I just… I need to tell them I’m safe and have them get this somewhere safe, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Jon smiled, trying his best to be reassuring. “I trust you, Martin. I’ll wait right here.”

***

Martin made his way from where they managed to come ashore over to where he had seen Tim and Sasha before. As they came into view, he started running over to them. “You’re safe! Oh I’m so glad you’re-” Martin cut himself off, something feeling wrong. Tim and Sasha were looking at him vacantly, their eyes shining a brilliant green not unlike the color of Gerry. “Tim? Sash?”

“Oh there you are, Martin,” Sasha said in a cold echo of her usual voice. It was sharper, more distant. It lacked the usual warmth and care that Sasha held in her real voice. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Did you find him?”

“Find who?” Martin asked, taking a step back, wondering if it was worth running back to Jon and getting back onto the water.

“Oh, he definitely found him, Sasha,” Tim said, moving over to Martin at a speed he had never seen before. “And it looks like he wants to get back to him. We can’t let you do that.”

“What are you talking about!?” Martin yelled, trying to fight Tim off but Tim’s strength seemed to have increased tenfold since he last saw him. “Tim, let me go!”

“Get him on the boat,” Sasha said, walking forward and taking the crown from Martin’s hands. She inspected it briefly before shoving it into Tim’s hand. “I will go see to our little problem.”

Martin’s blood ran cold. “Jon! Jon!”

***

It had been quite some time since Martin had left and Jon was starting to get worried. Gerry fluttered around him, trying to calm Jon down. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, Gerry.” Steps on the sand caused Jon to look up, squinting in the darkness, trying to see if it was Martin approaching. “Oh, you’re back! I thought you left me.”

“He did,” a cold female voice said. “Took the crown and ran off with Tim, left me to come and get rid of the monster.”

“Monster?”

The woman smiled. “That’s you, love,” she said, taking a step closer and removing a dagger from her bag. “Something about a man who could control all of the powers seemed a bit monstrous to old Martin, but he’s never had the stomach for taking the necessary actions.” 

“No. No, you’re lying, Martin wouldn’t just… He wouldn’t just leave. He wouldn’t just call me a  _ monster _ and then-”

“See for yourself,” the woman said, gesturing with her dagger over to the other side of the shore where Jon could see two men getting into a boat, the moonlight gleaming off the crown Jon had returned to Martin. “You’re on your own this time.”

“Martin?” Jon whispered out, voice a broken shell of what it had been. “Martin!”

“He can’t hear you, darling,” she said, advancing on Jon. “And soon, no one will be able to.”

Jon closed his eyes, bracing himself for the coming pain, but nothing came. Instead, he heard a sharp  _ thwack _ ! and opened his eyes to see Elias standing over the unconscious body of the woman. “E-Elias?”

“Oh, Jon, my precious Archivist, thank god you’re okay!” he said, racing over to Jon and pulling him into a tight hug.

“What… What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Jon asked, pushing back from his mentor a bit, trying to figure out what had just happened. 

“I was looking for you all day! You weren’t in the tower and I found these two thieves planning on finding and killing you, something about you taking their friend, but that couldn’t be right, could it?”

Elias seemed so earnest, so genuinely concerned for Jon’s safety, that Jon couldn’t help but collapse into his arms. “You were right, Elias. I shouldn’t have left.”

Elias ran a hand through Jon’s hair. “It’s alright, Archivist. Come now, let’s get you home.”


	8. Waking Pains and Broken Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin is determined. Jon is learning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More gaslighting in coming from resident bastard Elias Bouchard please be aware

Martin was struggling against Tim, trying to get the other man to let him out of the boat, when suddenly Tim collapsed on top of Martin. “Tim?”

Tim was out for a moment before popping up, looking at Martin with confused eyes. “Martin? What’re you doing here?” His voice, although laced with confusion, was clearly the voice of Tim that Martin knew and loved. Martin threw his arms around his friend, pulling him into a crushing hug. “Woah, hey, good to see you too, Marto.”

“I was going to look for you, I swear, I just promised Jon I’d- Oh god, Jon!” Martin said, scrambling to get up and running back down the beach. Tim followed him still slightly dazed but managing to keep up with Martin. 

As they came to where Martin had left the boat, they found Sasha on the ground, her head in her hands. “Sasha!”

“Martin?” Sasha said, looking at him with the same confusion laced on her expression that Tim had had. “Martin, where are we? Last I remember we were looking for you in the woods and came across some old man claiming to know where you were…” 

Martin stilled, looking from Sasha to Tim to the empty boat where Jon had sat. “Elias.” His friends looked at him, still clearly not following, and Martin did his best to get them up to speed. He told them about the tower and about Jon and the tavern and the library and the lanterns. It all came tumbling out of him, barely any room to breathe between his words. “Elias must have taken him, we have to get him back.”

The sudden snapping of a twig forced the trio to pause, quickly assessing their surroundings. Martin was the first to spot her, hiding behind a tree just out of sight. “Daisy, please, not now. I… Please, I just need more time. Just let me help Jon and then I’m all yours.”

The Hunter walked forward slowly, hands raised as if to indicate that she came peacefully. “I saw Jon off in the woods with someone. Someone who wasn’t you,” she said, looking pointedly at Martin. “I should arrest you. I should arrest all three of you. I should take that crown back and haul all of you to the gallows.”

Martin studied Daisy, seeing The Hunter in a way he had never seen her before. She looked conflicted and almost scared, as if she were questioning herself for the first time in her life. “We need to help Jon,” Martin all but pleaded. “He’s in danger every minute he spends with that manipulating bastard. He saved your life, help me save his.”

There was silence, tense and cloying, for a moment before Daisy nodded. “Alright, but we need to find a better place to plan this than in the middle of the woods.”

Tim grinned. “Well, we have the perfect place for that.”

***

Jon effortlessly called The Vast to himself and Elias as they stood below the tower, getting them back in with relative ease. He felt impossibly heavy in that moment, the weight of Martin’s betrayal flattening him like a boulder. Elias said nothing, just guiding Jon back to his room, taking out his brush and running it through Jon’s hair.

“I did try to warn you, Jon. The world is cruel and so are her people. You were always destined to end in pain from leaving, either on the receiving end or as the one causing the pain.”

Jon said nothing, The Lonely creeping its way into Jon’s brain, holding him close to the point where he almost couldn’t hear Elias, almost couldn’t feel the pull of the brush through his hair. “He said I was a monster. That’s what the woman told me.”

Elias pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of Jon’s head. “People fear that which they cannot control, Archivist. You are no more a monster than I.” Elias left after that, leaving Jon alone on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Gerry nuzzled into his neck, trying to provide some comfort to his friend. “Why did I do this, Gerry?”

Gerry offered no response, just continued to cuddle up to Jon. Jon patted him lightly, wishing more than anything that Martin was still with him. 

***

Melanie opened the back door to The Snuggly Duckling, knife once again in hand. “Martin Blackwood, if you still haven’t found Tim and Sasha, Georgie will kill you.”

“Good to see you too, Melanie,” Tim said, sidestepping her knife and making his way into the backroom. “Glad to see you and the wife value me and Sash’s lives.”

Martin couldn’t help but smile as they all piled into the backroom, some of the weight of what was happening finally falling away from him. “Sorry to barge in on you guys again, we needed a safe place to plan.”

“No illegal activity in my tavern, Martin!” Georgie called, as she walked through the door. “What would the guards-” Martin watched as her eyes finally settled on Daisy. “Martin. Why is the head of the royal guard in my backroom?”

“Daisy’s helping us get Jon back,” Martin said, trying his best to convey the proper amount of determination. 

“It’s only been a day, how did you lose the boy already?” Melanie asked with a laugh, taking a seat next to Sasha. “And why do you want him back so badly? He hardly seemed worth the trouble.”

She was joking, Martin could tell, but the words still cut him deeply. Jon clearly didn’t think he was worth the trouble, and he was now back with the person who instilled that belief into him. He had seemed so hopeful when Martin told him to come with them. Martin refused to let that hope die because of Elias. “He’s in a bad place and I refuse to leave him there.” Martin said firmly, not opening the door for any further discussion.

“What do we know about where he is?” Daisy asked, all business. Martin could tell she was at least slightly fond of Jon after their encounter, something about saving someone’s life tended to do that.

“He’s in a hidden tower in the woods not far from here.”

“The woods are still crawling with guards,” Tim said, side eyeing Daisy. “We were barely able to get back here safely, I doubt we could wander the woods again without getting caught.”

“That’s why you have me,” Daisy said, looking at Tim. “Give me the crown.”

“What?” Tim and Sasha both yelled. “No!”

Daisy rolled her eyes, holding her hand out in front of her. “If I go into the woods with the crown that had been stolen and clearly a bit roughed up, they’ll think you three are dead and will vacate the forest. Now, give. Me. The. Crown.” Tim looked slightly reluctant until Martin gave him a pointed glare. Sighing, Tim handed over the crown. Daisy smiled, “Good. Thank you. As a reward, I’ll even let you get a hit on me so we’re more convincing.”

Martin watched as Tim and Daisy went outside to rough Daisy up a bit so she could get the guards off their trail. Tim came back in alone, “She’s gone ahead to get rid of the guards. You sure we trust her, Marto?”

“She let you punch her,” Martin said blandly. “I think we can trust her.” He looked at Tim and Sasha, weighing his options. “I think it’ll be safer for me to go by myself.”

“Martin, no!” Sasha said firmly. “We just found you again, we can’t trust that you won’t go disappearing again.”

“I don’t think the three of us trying to scale a tower will be very good for stealth,” Martin shot back, trying to hide some of the hurt. “And I didn’t mean to disappear. You know I didn’t.”

Sasha softened, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry. And you’re right, that doesn’t seem like the best option for stealth. But what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait?”

Martin looked over at Georgie, who nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what you guys should do. You guys can help out Georgie and I’ll bring Jon back here once I get him back.”

“Are you sure this will work, Martin?” Tim asked as Martin gathered his things and went to the door. 

“It has to.”

***

Jon was reading through another story with Gerry fluttering nearby. Elias had elected to leave him alone for the time being, or at least it seemed that way. After their initial conversation upon being brought back, Elias had simply left Jon to his own devices.

He was about to start a new story when something caught his eye. It was an old drawing, tucked in among the stacks of stories. Jon pulled it back and saw that it was of the king and queen, holding their seemingly newborn baby. Across the bottom, in tiny scrawl, read  _ King and Queen Sims and their son, Jonathan _ .

“The missing prince was named Jonathan?” Jon muttered aloud, studying the picture. It appeared to be the same one that the mosaic in town was based on, with the drawing showing a streak of white in the baby’s hair. “It kind of looks like my hair, don’t you think, Gerry?”

Something about the drawing was pulling Jon in, as if trying to unlock something in his brain. The Eye was focused intently on it, trying desperately to decipher something in it.

And then it all exploded in his mind.

His parents, making lanterns with him for his birthday. The story of The Web helping his mother get through her pregnancy. Running through the castle with his father, the feeling of grass on his feet as they ran around the garden. Reading at night with his mother. Elias, coming into his room covered in blood telling him they had to run, saying someone was coming after Jon and he could protect him.

It all came back to him.

Jon stumbled back, knocking stories and books off of his desk. He could vaguely hear Elias calling up to him, asking if he was alright, but it didn’t matter. 

“I’m the lost prince.”


	9. The Lost Prince and the Lonely Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin finds Jon. Jon finds Martin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some violence in this chapter as well as more gaslighting (and also villain monologuing) please be aware

The world snaps back into focus as Jon breathes out those words, his entire world falling back into place. Memories continued to flood into his mind, but it didn’t stop him from gathering himself and heading out to find Elias. Elias was still standing at the base of the stairs, looking at Jon with what passed for concern in his eyes. “Is everything alright, Jon.”

“I’m the lost prince,” Jon said again, quietly, still not believing that the words could come from his mouth. 

“Diction, Archivist. Must we always come back to the muttering? You sound paranoid when you mutter about like that.”

“I’m the lost price, aren’t I, Elias?” Jon said firmly, locking eyes with his mentor and seeing recognition flare up in them. “You stole me away from my home, from my family, from my kingdom. Why? What did you have to gain from this?”

Elias’s expression had darkened with each passing word, and he looked at Jon with malice all over his features. “Fine work, my little Archivist. Or, should I say, my little Archive. You caught me, I did kidnap you. You are the lost prince. You’ve solved the mystery! Now what?” He bit out with a laugh. “There’s no escape for you, not from me. You need me. No one else can care for you, can even tolerate you. I’m the only one who can handle being around you.”

Jon thought of Martin with his soft smiles and warm hands. Martin, who was so angry on Jon’s behalf when he told him about Elias. Martin who never would’ve left him, not without a push. “It was you, wasn’t it? You took Martin away.”

Elias rolled his eyes. “The little thief? He was tricky, I will say as such. Luckily, that will have been taken care of by now. I made sure to tip off your little huntress, she seemed very eager to know where he would be heading. Something about gallows seemed to spring to her mind.”

“No,” Jon gasped out as Elias closed the distance, running his hands through Jon’s hair again. 

“It’s alright, Jon. I’m still here for you.”

Jon turned around and grabbed Elias’s wrist, forcing his hand out of his hair. “You were wrong. You were wrong about this world and about me. I don’t need you and I don’t need to be afraid. I’m not dangerous, I’m not a monster, and I won’t allow you to keep me here and keep using me for whatever it is you’re doing.”

He started to walk away only to feel Elias grab his arm roughly, holding him in place. Try as Jon might, he couldn’t get himself to move. “Now you hold still, my little Archive. I didn’t not live for the centuries I’ve lived, trying to find a way to balance the powers, just for you to walk away from me. I didn’t kill Elias Bouchard and have you marked so that you could just leave. No. I am Jonah Magnus, servant of The Eye and keeper of The Archive and that means you  _ stay here. _ ”

***

Martin made his way quickly and quietly through the woods. The guards they had seen patrolling the area had long since left, Daisy seemingly having completed the task she set out to do. It was much darker than when he had originally stumbled upon the tower, but Martin managed to keep his bearings, following his instincts and finding the fake wall of ivy.

He pushed through, taking in the sight of the tower yet again. It looked different at night, darker and more sinister. Or perhaps that was just his feelings getting in the way as he knew what Elias had done now. Moving quietly through the grass, he retrieved his arrows and started to climb up.

About half way up, he felt a tug at his stomach and started to float, racing towards the window. Jon must’ve seen him and brought him up. “Jon! Oh thank god you’re- oh,” Martin looked down and saw a knife in his stomach. Elias stood at the window, clearly manipulating Jon in some way as Jon’s eyes were shining that same green Tim and Sasha’s had. 

“Look at what you’ve done, Jon,” Elias said, grabbing Jon’s arm and attaching a shackle to it. “You’ve killed this poor, innocent man. It’s all your fault.”

“Jon, no, don’t listen to him!” Martin cried, trying his best to move but pain was racing through his body with each breath he took. Something about his yelling seemed to snap Jon out of whatever trance he was in as his eyes returned to their normal brown and he stared at Martin in horror.

“Martin? Oh god Martin!” He tried to run toward Martin but Elias yanked the chain back.

“That’s enough, Jon. We’re leaving.”

Martin blinked sluggishly at Jon, trying to find the strength to get up and go after him, but he couldn’t move. He could only stare in horror as Elias pulled the chain again.   
  


“Let me help him, please,” Jon pleaded, struggling against the chain. “Please, I need to help him!”

“Why are you fighting me, Jon? That’s enough!”

“I will fight you until the day I die, Elias. I don’t care how many attempts it takes, I will find a way to get away from you,” Jon bit out. Martin couldn’t help but feel pride swell up within him. At least Jon would be able to get away from all of this. “But if you let me help him,” Martin felt his eyes try to open again, trying to plead with Jon to stop what he was doing. “I will go with you. I will let you do whatever you want, I promise. Just let me help him.”

Martin managed to blink his eyes open to see Elias remove the shackle from Jon’s hand, attaching it to Martin and tying it tightly around a pole behind him. “In case you had any thoughts on following us.”

Jon leaned down in front of Martin, grabbing his hand tightly. “It’s going to be okay, Martin. I can help you.”

“Jon,” Martin coughed. “You can’t, you… you need to run. I can’t let you do this.”

“And I can’t let you die,” Jon whispered out, tears falling freely down his face and landing on Martin. “Not after everything you’ve done for me. You need to live, Martin. How could I live with myself if you died?”

Martin wanted to protest more, but found that he could barely speak. “You were my new dream, Jon.”

“And you were mine.” Jon closed his eyes, gathering some kind of power to him, pulling Martin close and wrapping it around him. Martin could feel his flesh piecing itself back together, could feel the blood retreating into his veins and the wound closing. The air returned to Martin’s lungs and he could breathe again. “There,” Jon whispered, cupping Martin’s cheek for a moment before moving to stand up again. “All better.”

“Jon-” Martin could see his eyes go green again, could feel The Lonely starting to wrap around him. “Jon?” There was a push, and Martin was alone.

***

Jon could feel his mind rushing back into his body as he shook, looking at the spot where Martin had previously sat and been healed, now empty. The shackle that had been clamped around his wrist clattered to the floor. He turned to face Elias. “What… What did you do?”

“What I had to,” Elias said, moving to pick up the chains. “He was a distraction. Now he is nothing, and it’s all your fault.”

“No.” Jon said, looking at Elias with fury in his eyes. “You did this, not me.”

Elias simply smiled a cold, bitter grin. “Of the two of us here, which of us is able to manipulate The Lonely? This was your doing, Archivist.”

“You made me!” Jon said, anger rising. “I didn’t do this, I didn’t want this!”

“What you want doesn’t matter, Jon. Only what you do. And what you did was send that boy into The Lonely forever.” Elias walked towards Jon, circling him, reaching out to grab his arm. “ All you do is take, and take, and hurt. And now he's gone. Even if he could come back, he wouldn't want you after what you've done."

"No," Jon said softly, staring helplessly at where Martin had been standing. His gaze whipped back around to face Elias. He grabbed his arm, staring directly into his eyes, a fury unlike anything he had ever felt before boiling in him. "Ceaseless Watcher turn your gaze upon this wretched thing. Take back what he has stolen-"

"Jon what are you doing?"

"See the truth beneath his vile skin-"

Elias tripped backwards as if punched, grasping at his skin as if he were afraid it would all fall away. "JON!"

"BEHOLD THE HOLLOW SHELL BENEATH HIM AND LET IT BE ALL THAT REMAINS!" With that, Elias burst into a cloud of dust. Nothing could remain of the man who once held all the power over Jon. The Eye had taken him, had Seen him, and stripped him of all he had been. Jon leaned down in front of the spot Martin had occupied, calling The Lonely to him once more. "Martin, hold on. I'm coming."

***

It was quiet in The Lonely. 

The only sound to be heard at all was waves crashing upon some distant shore that Jon couldn’t see but knew was there. He tried calling out to Martin, but it felt like the words died the moment they passed Jon’s mouth. This place was truly meant to be alone.

But Jon could still call The Eye to him, he could still know where Martin was. He followed the path The Eye whispered into his mind until he came across Martin, sitting alone in the sand, eyes vacant.

“Martin!” Jon raced towards him, immediately kneeling on the ground in front of him. “Martin, I’m here, I’m sorry.”

“Go away, Jon,” Martin said, his voice flat. None of the life that usually filled his words finding its way into his voice. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you,” Jon pleaded, grabbing Martin’s hand. It felt lifeless, devoid of warmth or any sensation at all. “You belong out there, in the real world, with us. With me.”

“No I don’t,” Martin said, voice still a hollow imitation of its normal self. “I’ve always belonged in The Lonely. Ever since I was a kid. Me managing to leave was just a fluke, this is where I belong.” 

“Martin,” Jon pleaded again, still holding his hands. “Martin, you said I was your new dream.”

“You were,” Martin said. “Out there. There aren’t dreams in here, not really. Just the sand and the fog and the quiet. You should go.”

“I can’t leave without you,” Jon said, still feeling determined. “You saved me, let me save you.”

Jon wracked his brain, trying to think of anything he could do to shake the fog surrounding the man in front of him. He thought back to the two days they spent together, to their tour of the kingdom and their boat trip with the lanterns. Martin had brought so much life and light to his life. He was a bright spot, a shining point that could not be doused. Not by Elias or The Lonely or anything else. “Martin, Martin I need you to look at me, really look at me. Look at me and tell me what you see.”

Martin’s dull eyes found Jon’s and he could see some of the light come back to them as Jon used The Eye to show Martin all that he was in Jon’s mind. “I see… I see you, Jon. I see you!” He all but leaped forward, pulling Jon into a tight hug as warmth entered his system again. “I… I was so alone, I thought I’d never see you again, I thought… I thought this was what I was meant for.”

“It’s not. You’re not alone, Martin. Not anymore. Never again,” Jon said, head buried in Martin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I sent you here.”

“You didn’t mean to, it wasn’t your fault,” Martin said, running his hand up and down Jon’s back. “And you came to get me.”

“I did,” Jon whispered, pulling back to look Martin in the eye. “I would never leave you again, Martin. Not by choice. Not if you’d let me stay.”

Martin leaned forward, pressing his lips gently to Jon’s. “I’d love nothing more than for you to stay with me, always.” As he said that, the world shook around them and they found themselves thrust out of The Lonely, back in Jon’s tower. “We’re out.”

Jon smiled at him, grabbing his hand. “Can’t quite be Lonely if we’re together, I suppose.” He laughed, disbelief washing over him as he took in the sight of Martin and the empty tower around them. They really made it out. “Come on, Martin. Let’s get out of here.”


	10. Epilogue - The Found Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon finally goes home.

Jon leaned into The Vast once more, carrying him and Martin down from the tower and dropping them gently onto the grass below. In one hand he held the drawing that revealed him as the prince, in the other he was holding Martin’s hand tightly, as if he were afraid that letting it go would send Martin spiraling back into The Lonely. They made their way quietly away from the tower, moving quickly to return to The Snuggly Duckling.

As they walked, Jon looked at Martin from the corner of his eye. “He told me I was a monster, you know.”

“Elias?” Jon nodded. Martin slowed for a moment, bringing Jon’s hand up to press a chaste kiss to the back of it. “He’s wrong, you know that, right?”

“I think I’m starting to know that,” Jon said, reveling in the feeling of Martin’s hand in his. “He needed me scared, in order to control me.”

“And now?”

Jon thought through the past few days and how he had managed to use the powers within him. He wasn’t scared anymore, not really. “Elias told me that being around people would make me want to draw their stories out of them, forcing them to relive horrors for The Eye to consume. I think that is what he did. I don’t think The Eye wanted me to feed on fears, I think my fear was enough for it. And now, I think my knowledge will be enough for it,” Jon paused for a moment, feeling the energy pulsing through him. “He had me marked on purpose. Wanted me to be powerful, wanted me to use it for him.”

“Now he’s gone,” Martin said gently. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Silence fell over them once more as they neared the tavern. Just before reaching the door, Jon stopped. “What if he was right, Martin?”

Martin pulled Jon close to him, squeezing him tightly. “He wasn’t, Jon. All you’ve ever tried to do in the time I’ve known you is  _ help _ . He wanted you to hurt and you didn’t. You were stronger than he thought you were. You  _ are _ stronger than he thought you were,” Martin pulled back, looking into Jon’s eyes which were glistening with unshed tears. “You’re not going to hurt us. And no one is going to hurt you anymore. I promise.”

Jon felt calmer as he stood there in Martin’s embrace. It was the same feeling he had had on the boat. It was the same feeling he always seemed to have around Martin over the past few days. “Thank you, for this.”

Marin smiled, all the warmth having returned to him since they left The Lonely. “You’re very welcome, Jon. Now come on. Our friends are waiting to help get you home.”

***

The king and queen were reading in their study when they heard the commotion. Thundering footsteps were heading straight for their door and for a moment the queen was reminded of the night she lost her son. Instead of Gertrude bursting through the door, it was Daisy, the new head of guard who took over after Gertrude retired. She had the same panicked expression on her face that Gertrude had had all those years ago. “Your majesties…”

“What happened, Daisy?” The king asked, voice steel but hiding a layer of concern under it. “Are we under attack?”

“No, your majesties,” Daisy said, stepping carefully into the room. “I… I think we’ve found him.”

The king and queen exchanged a quick look before bolting up, following Daisy out of the room. She led them out to a terrace where two young men were standing. The shorter of the two turned to face them as they arrived, nervousness clearly etched across his features as if he were expecting to be thrown out or arrested at any moment. His hair was streaked with white, much like the mark left by The Mother of Puppets so long ago. What really drew them in, however, was his eyes. As the queen looked at his eyes, she saw her own. “Jonathan?”

The young man looked shocked at the fact that she had recognized him. He nodded, taking a few careful steps towards her. He bowed awkwardly, unsure of what to do. “Hi, um, your majesty?”

The queen had enough of that and raced towards him, pulling him into her arms and burying her face in his shoulder. “Oh hush you silly, silly boy. I’ve missed you.”

Jon relaxed into his mother’s arms, feeling her card her hands through his hair. “I’ve missed you too, mother.” He whispered out, feeling the tears start to fall. As he looked up, still wrapped in his mother’s arms, he saw his father watching them. “Hello, father.”

That was all it took for the king to wrap his wife and son in his arms, their family finally complete again after all these years. “My son. My precious son,” The king’s eyes opened to find Martin standing awkwardly off to the side. “And who might you be?”

“That’s Martin,” Jon said, looking at Martin with love in his eyes. “He’s the one who brought me home.”

The king extended a hand to Martin and Martin shook it, expecting that to be the end of things. But instead he was pulled into the hug as well and Jon was surrounded by the people who loved him most of all.

***

The week that followed was full of celebration. 

Lanterns were released once more, marking the return of the prince to the kingdom. Jon got to decorate lanterns with his family once again, roping Daisy, Tim, Sasha, Georgie, and Melanie in as well. The king had even expunged Tim, Sasha, and Martin’s criminal record, thanking them profusely for helping to return his son.

Martin never left Jon’s side, the two of them finding a new home, a new life, together in the palace. 

“Thank you, for this,” Jon said one night as they stood on the terrace, looking over the kingdom still in the midst of joyous celebration.

“This was your birthright, Jon,” Martin said, taking his hand. Jon leaned his head against Martin’s shoulder. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Jon said with a huff of laughter. “You saved me.”

“And you saved me,” Martin said, pressing a kiss to Jon’s forehead.

They stood there for a while longer, looking at the kingdom. They were together, they had made it through.

They lived happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated but never required. If you liked this, you can check me out on [tumblr!](https://ireallyneedabetterusername.tumblr.com/)


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